Examining the Role of an Overnight Newborn Support Professional
What is an Overnight Newborn Care Expert?
An Overnight Newborn Care Expert (NCE) is a qualified, trained professional, who provides overnight care for newborns when first arriving home from the hospital. Because the transition of bringing your newborn home can be challenging, as well as cause sleepless nights, hiring an Overnight Newborn Care Expert can give you peace of mind and much needed sleep. Most families choose to partner with BBN&N for 6-12 weeks or until the baby is sleeping through the night. A typical overnight ranges from an 8-12 hour shift.
What Type of Credentialing and Education Does an Overnight Newborn Care Expert Need?
The term “night nurse” is ambiguous at best and while many Registered Nurse (RN) do take employment as an Overnight Newborn Care Specialist or Expert, they are not always one in the same.
An Overnight Newborn Care Expert is equipped with a wide array of skills and can assist with lactation support, creating healthy sleeping habits, logging feeding times, and helping develop sleeping and feeding routines that make it easier to manage once they leave your home. Training is key, and Overnight Newborn Care Experts go through at least 40 hours of training structured in accordance with the standards and recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Separately, Boston Baby Nurse & Nanny offers RN Services provided by qualified RNs with newborn experience. They can offer at-home medical support for both baby and Mom. Read more about how an RN can assist your family, here.
How Can an Overnight Newborn Care Expert Help?
A Newborn Care Expert- whether assisting overnight or during the day, can be a great help to new parents for several reasons. Taking over duties such as nighttime feeding and diaper changing allow parents the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep. They also give parents a break from all the daytime duties of caring for the baby. In addition to tasks such as diaper changing and feeding, your Overnight Newborn Care Expert provides peace of mind that the baby will be well-cared for during the night. In addition, an NCE can offer advice on various techniques and tips on how to care for a newborn, as well as, keeping an eye out for issues such as allergies, colic, or reflux.
Caring for a newborn can be truly exhausting. Regardless of your delivery method, you’ll need to rest and recover yourself while frequently having to wake in the night to help your baby adjust to feeding, sleep cues, and more. Newborn babies need quite a bit of parent-led support to soothe and assist them when establishing healthy sleeping routines. The lack of sleep parents experience indicates nighttime care for a baby is truly a job for more than one, or even TWO people. This is why so many new parents opt to hire an Overnight Newborn Care Expert for their family.
Understanding Scope and Role of an Overnight Newborn Care Expert
An Overnight Newborn Care Expert can assist with feedings, soothing, and comforting a newborn to help them fall asleep; change wet and soiled diapers and keep an eye on your baby’s safety and care. Therefore, it is crucial to inquire the specific duties and what they are willing and capable of doing to assist you.
Here is checklist of duties you can discuss with your night nurse. It is essential that the lines of communications are open so there is a clear understanding what is required for the position:
- Bathe/assist in bathing baby
- Provide soothing and sleep support overnight
- Change diapers
- Wash and sanitize bottles, pump parts, etc.
- Offer to assist with tidying up the nursery and keeping up with baby’s laundry to make life easier during the waking hours
- An Advanced Newborn Care Specialist can assist a postpartum parent with their recovery and monitor for mental health disorders and struggles
When Should You Hire an Overnight Registered Nurse?
While the birth of a child is a joyous occasion, there are times when a mother experiences a difficult birth or suffers from postpartum depression. This might be the time to consider an Overnight Registered Nurse to help with the transition. An overnight registered nurse can provide you with the peace of mind that you have a medically trained professional to support all your needs and your baby’s. Some duties include:
- Postpartum assessment
- Education on breastfeeding and breast pumps
- Assist with laundry, organization of the nursery and even getting your home and family ready for the next morning
- An overnight registered nurse assess your newborn’s vital signs, weighs baby, completes a pulse oximetry screening, and more.
Regardless of your needs, hiring an Overnight Newborn Care Expert will provide you, your baby, and your family the support needed during the first weeks home form the hospital.
